One of the hardest things about depression is finding hope. When you are in that dark abyss, it is seemingly impossible to find any shred of hope for a better day. Depression limits your perspective and tricks you into thinking that the awful place you are in is permanent. However, as hard as it is to realize, I believe there is always something better ahead. I recently came across the story of a young girl named Sailor Gutzler. She and her family had been vacationing in the Florida Keys over the New Year holiday. When the vacation was over, she and her family boarded a small plane, flown by her father, and headed home for Illinois. While flying over Kentucky, the engine malfunctioned and the plane crashed into the hills. Sailor was the only survivor. She had a broken wrist, no shoes and was still wearing her clothes from her tropical vacation. When she realized her family was dead, she set out to find help in the pitch black night in 38 degree weather. After hiking through creeks and blackberry briers, she saw the light of a house . She forged ahead and eventually reached the house, where she was taken in and helped. Without much difficulty, we can draw a parallel between Sailor's story and depression. While depressed, we feel alone. Any effort put forth to do anything is excruciating. However, if we look, we can find the light. We can find hope. Is the path between here and there going to be easy? No. Do we know what we are going to encounter along the way? No. But we know there is something better waiting for us at the other end. Maybe we don't know what that something is, but anything is better than the hell of depression. So how do we find that light? It's different for everyone. For me, I find hope in my religion and my belief in Jesus Christ. I also find hope in taking care of my family. No matter what that thing is, I firmly believe that if a person has a desire, they can find a source of hope. The trick is to find that hope while you are not depressed. I really believe in the things I have written in this post. I know it is a hard thing to grasp; the concept of hope. It is intangible and in no way empirical. But hey, in many ways, neither is depression. So why not fight one vague concept with another! Okay, maybe that it pushing it, but I think it's worth thinking about. I hope there has been some cohesive thread in this post. I just know that finding the light of hope has helped me at my lowest points, even if the light is dim. I hope it can help you too.

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This page was started by people who suffer from mental illness, with the intention of helping any and all people who expereince similar challenges of depression, anxiety, addiction, victims of abuse and sexual assault, and to help those who experience these challenges of life through their passions.